Big White – A Great Destination For the Family

The image of skiing and snowboarding is often one of adrenaline and energy as seen in action movies or in magazines. You see images of skiers bombing down steep chutes with snow billowing over their shoulders, or skiers jumping off high cliffs, and exploding in a heap of snow. What you don’t see are images of families skiing together and enjoying themselves.

Venture into the BC Interior, though, and the picture changes. Families are the visible majority at the four major ski resorts in the Thompson-Okanagan – Sun Peaks, Silver Star, Big White, and Apex Resort. A trip to the Okanagan means negotiating the Coquihalla Highway or the Crowsnest, but it’s a trip that’s well worth making. The four to six hour drive from the Vancouver area means that long weekends, Pro-D days, and Christmas and March Break holidays are the most popular times to visit the area.

Big White makes it easy for families to have a ski vacation with the renowned Kid’s Camp program. Lift tickets, equipment rentals, and lessons are all taken care of at one convenient location. (Insider’s Tip: Choose the full-day lessons for the kids so that they can enjoy lunch inside the mini-cafeteria in the Ski School.)

Big White is unique for it’s on-slope accommodations and services, which are terraced halfway up the mountain. In the Happy Valley area you will find the outdoor skating rink, the Mega Snow Coaster tubing park, two Magic Carpet lifts for first time skiers, and the headquarters for both snowmobile and dogsled tours. The skiing and boarding is just a short gondola ride away in the Village Centre area. From here you can ski down to the Ridge Rocket or Bullet chairs and gain access to the over one hundred trails that span over ten kilometres from one end to the other.

The beauty of Big White is that all types of runs can be found. It has runs for all your family members skiing abilities. You don’t have to be a double black diamond skier to enjoy open powder bowls, gladded tree runs, or other off-piste adventure skiing. Even expert terrain areas such as The Cliff often have smooth, mogul-free descents. Over on the Gem Lake Express – six kilometres away from the village centre, are the Sun Rype Bowl and Kalina’s Rainbow – two of the most enjoyable runs in all of the Interior. Right under the Gem Lake Chair and around the mountain, you can ski and ride around the frost encrusted snow ghosts, Big White’s signature feature. The snow ghosts are formed from the water droplets of low-lying clouds that roll off the nearby Okanagan Lake. As the ski season progresses, more and more snow and frost adhere to the trees so that they resemble creatures from a B-Grade horror movie.

Big White is ideal for families because everything needed for a family ski trip is made convenient and easy to do. There is truly something for all ages going on at Big White whether it be ice skating or watching a fireworks show. So bring the family up for a stay at Big White and let the adventure begin.